Do we see the universe as being kind to us? Well, 33-year-old Tan Siew Ling did, and she’s blind.
In an interview with Deputy Life Editor Wong Kim Hoh, she said: “the universe has been kind to me.” She added that “she has been blessed with good friends as well as supportive bosses and colleagues who help her face the challenges life has thrown at her.”
Now, what has life thrown at her? Let me list them down for you.
First, her sight.
She lost it at a very young age. The world became completely dark when she was only 11. Wong wrote: “Trips to the optician couldn’t fix the problem, so she was referred to specialists who said her failing vision was a result of optic atrophy. It was not until much later, in 2017, when doctors discovered four tumours growing in her brain that she was diagnosed with Nerofibromatosis Type 2.”
Second, her father died two years later, when she was only 13.
She said: “He had medical issues although I don’t know what happened to him. In the last few months before he died, he was in a feeding tube.” At that time, Siew Ling has an older brother, and he was doing his O levels that year.
Third, her mother had renal failure in 2007.
She said: “My mother’s health suffered. We didn’t have the finances to get that fixed so her diabete and hypertension caused her to have renal failure when I was 19. She needed dialysis.”
Fourth, her mother’s passing.
That was a deep blow to Siew Ling. She loved her very much. It happened in 2015. ““When my mum was around, my world revolves around her. When she passed away, I had to reintegrate into society. Learning to ask for help, learning to tell people that I needed help, like “Can you accompany me for dinner?” It wasn’t easy.””
“My mum is gone, what I need to do is live.”
Well, recall that this is one tough soul who said that the universe has been kind to her. And it was kind because she has an understanding boss. Ms Ku Geok Boon, chief executive of SG Enable.
Ku offered her a job as executive assistant. She was grateful and said: “SG Enable really walks the talk. My bosses and co-workers were willing to redesign jobs and accommodate my needs.”
Her brother, Yan Cai, was also a pillar of support for her. He is her closest kin after her parents passed away. She said: “He spoils me rotten, accompanies me to all my medical appointments, talks to me and has never once complained. He and his wife always drop in on me.”
She also met and drew strength and hope from a blind research scientist Yeo Sze Ling. “Dr Yeo started losing her sight at four but went on to earn three degrees, including a PhD in mathematics...Her World Magazine named her its Young Woman Achiever.”
Under Dr Yeo’s encouragement, Siew Ling “became the first blind person in Singapore to pass Chinese O and AO-level exams in 2003 and 2005 respectively.”
Siew Ling also went further to complete her A levels at Tampines Junior College and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in economics and finance jointly offered by SIM and the UOL. What an indefatigable spirit!
And while we are still at the challenges life throws at her, the fifth one is truly devastating. Not long after her mother passed on (in 2015), she discovered that something was wrong with her.
She said: “There were a lot of sounds emitting from my brain: whining, buzzing, chanting, a lot of white noise as though a radio was on 24/7.”
“The doctors didn’t know how and if things would change in five years. It turned out that they didn’t need to look beyond five years. A few months later, I couldn’t hear already,” Siew Ling recounted.
So, I return to how kind the universe has been to Siew Ling. Here’s a recap.
At 11, she could not see. At 13, her father passed away. At 19, her mother had renal failure. Her family struggled with finances, depending on scholarships and bursaries to pay for her education. At 27, her mother, whom she loved dearly, passed away. And at 35, the world was silent, not a sound was heard. It was like the world she had known at 11 withdrew from her gradually and completely, first her sight, and later her hearing.
However, after going through all that, this is how Siew Ling saw life - it’s still good. She has friends, mentor, employers and the love of her brother and his wife. She is grateful. She is contented.
Oh, did I also mention that all this while, Siew Ling has four tumors growing in her brain? Recall her medical condition Neurofibromatosis Type 2? Alas, whatever type it is, Siew Ling is the type that never gives up.
This morning, if you are struggling with something, whether in school, at home, in your marriage or at your workplace, spare a thought about how the kind universe has treated Siew Ling. And yes, she did say this - “after my mum is gone, what I need to do is live.”
This is the universe that Siew Ling was born into, yet it is still a universe of hope, love and dreams fulfilled for her. Life may have dealt her one devastating blow after another, but she only wants to live, and go on living. She chooses to see enduring kindness in an otherwise blind and soundless world.
Personally, I thank Wong Kim Hoh for faithfully bringing this piece of heaven in a world many would have called it, well, hell.
If anyone of us hates Monday, or for that matter, is frustrated with life for not going your way, I believe Siew Ling knows just how you feel. She not only lived it out, one furnace fire at a time, she also wants to live it well. She’s not giving up, and she even took up running in 2013. However, she stopped when her mother passed away in 2015.
But last year, when the pandemic struck, Siew Ling received a call from Mr John See Toh, 61. He is the founder of Runninghour, “a running club that helps people with disabilities participate in sports and integrate with mainstream society.” John encouraged her to run again, and she took her first step in this marathon of life. Mind you, by then, she has also lost her hearing.
John said: “We worked out a touch system of communication with her - turn right, turn left, slope ahead. Despite that, she had a fall in the first month and suffered a sprained ankle which put her out of action for two weeks. But she’s very driven and resilient.” Indeed she is. She’s not just a runner, she’s a fighter too.
John said: “She is quite something. The word defeat does not exist in her vocabulary. She’s gone through one thing after another but she always picks herself up.”
Well, I can’t imagine the resolve in her to run in a world that she can no longer see and hear. I can only imagine that there is another world within her that is determined to make every step counts, and to finish every race life throws at her.
We are always encouraged to see the world in a new light, and to listen to the beauty it has to offer. But for Siew Ling, it is a world without light and sound. Yet, she still saw beauty in it. She still hears the sound of an encouragement, the voice of a human touch, and the whisper of hope undimmed.
They are all beyond our five senses, and they are the things that make up our inner world. They are the building blocks of our faith, building us up to face the world outside of us. For if we strive to still the storm within, we can face any storm without.
So, kudos to you Siew Ling, for bringing new light and sound into a world we often take for granted. A world whose riches, joy and gains are beyond what the world of sight and sound can ever hope to offer.
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